Remarkable recent advances in copying machine and printer technology have been accomplished yielding a reduction in cost in addition to enhanced recording quality, recording speed and performance. Accordingly, posters, catalogs, pamphlets and other printed matters, that were conventionally prepared by printing machines, may now be prepared using copying machines or printers more conveniently and quickly while maintaining the conventional recording quality. Particularly, recording by copying machines or printers is ideal for quickly preparing various printing tasks and small quantities of printed matters.
Among the assortment of copying machines and printers are copying machines and printers that employ an electrophotographic system. In particular, copying machines and printers that use a semiconductor laser are superior due to high resolution and high speed recording abilities. However, there are problems associated with color recording in that the apparatus becomes large in size because of the necessity to use two or more developing apparatus and the resultant color tone is slightly inferior due to the use of a pigment toner. These problems have been addressed by miniaturization of the photosensitive drum and the developing apparatus, as well as improvements in the toner and recording paper.
However, the conventional electrophotography paper on which color recording is effected by an electrophotographic copying machine, laser printer, or the like, is prepared by forming a recording layer containing a pigment comprising synthetic silica powder as the main component, an aqueous adhesive, and an ink set agent on the surface of a base material layer. The base material layer is typically composed of pulp paper, so that it is not sufficiently satisfactory yet regarding density, color tone, gradation, fixing properties, and recording qualities, as well as water resistance, and present durability.
Furthermore, when the basic material layer composed of pulp paper is printed and used as pop art, poster, restaurant's menu card, or the like, inmost cases, it is used after lamination with PET film, PP film, or the like. Thus, it has not been satisfied in terms of cost and handling. In the case of small price tag and pop art, furthermore, there is the inconvenience of printing on large-sized paper and then cutting into pieces in a desired size, followed by laminating these pieces with films. In particular, at supermarkets and mass sales stores where price tags are renewed every day, the placement of price tags and pop art posters take much times and expenses, becoming too burdensome in terms of cost and labor.
Furthermore, a paper having the basic material layer composed of pulp paper may be perforated to provide the paper with a hand-cutting property. In some cases, depending on the pitches of perforations, cut goes off the perforation line at the time of tearing off along the line, buckling is occurred at the time of printing with an electrophotographic copying machine, and the finished shape of the product is substantially lost.
The present invention has been made for the purpose of resolving these background problems, and its object is to provide an electrophotography recording paper which is suitable for color recording at least on one side thereof by electrophotographic copying machines, laser printers and the like, and which can be preliminary printed and perforated before printing, has excellent density, color tone, gradation, fixing properties, and recording qualities, and has excellent fixing properties, water resistance, and durability without lamination.
Furthermore, the above electrophotography recording paper may be punched or perforated depending on the usage dimensions in advance before printing, so that the printing can be performed on the paper having punched holes or perforations. Therefore, the paper obtains a hand-cutting property without using an edged tool or a cutting machine, so that it will provide increased productivity.